House of Cards
by winterlily1992
Summary: There's a new vampire at the Cullen house but what happens when he falls for a human he takes part in saving? An edited version of my previous story.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Twilight Saga… that would be Stephenie Meyer; I would be a very rich person if I owned the saga. I merely own the character(s) I create.

**Summary:** This takes place a year or so after the end of "Breaking Dawn", but there is a new vampire in the Cullen house and his name is Ben. He is not the most talkative but his own adventure as a vampire begins on Christmas Eve when he shares a vision with Alice….

_(You found me when no one else was looking. How did you know just where I would be? Yeah, you broke through all of my confusion. The ups and the downs and you still didn't leave. I guess you saw what nobody could see, you found me. – You Found Me: Kelly Clarkson) _

Chapter One: Vision

I despised this; despised it, despised it, despised it with a burning, fiery passion. It was the most immoral, appalling thing that could ever happen to me or any person and now it was irreversible. The thing was it was not even my fault – okay, maybe it _was_ my fault – but it could have been avoided; I was just in the wrong area at the wrong moment in time. I was now and would forever be… a vampire.

The three days of pain that I had endured remained fresh in my mind, tearing at my very flesh with unease; the searing, burning sensations that had once rendered me motionless sent shivers up and down my spine. It had happened a week ago, but I still refused to speak to the Cullen family. In fact, I refused to leave the confines of the room they had given me.

I knew that everything was my responsibility and I had no one else to be furious at but me, me, and me. Of course, I _was_ infuriated and frustrated with myself and with worthy reason; I just _had_ to follow the vampire despite the fact that he was hunting. I am a very curious person and cannot help myself sometimes.

Then I just had to pursue him into the dark forest; stupid, stupid, stupid. Although, I did manage to stay away for a small number of minutes, until he misinterpreted me for food. I guess I am thankful the Cullen family was nearby. Nevertheless, they _could_ have saved me in any other way! Again – stupid, stupid, stupid.

~*~*~

Christmas Eve came precisely four months subsequent to whoever had bitten me and I still refused to abandon the comfort of my room except to hunt. Although, I had snuck around the house while the Cullen's were out, mostly looking for CD's, paper, and pencils. I was really into music and loved to sketch.

With my newly acquired super hearing, I could easily listen to the family downstairs, finishing some decorating for the big holiday celebration they would be having tomorrow. Someone was playing piano in the background, a child was laughing, and a young woman was shouting out orders. I found it funny, though I could not see it.

Meanwhile, I had made myself comfortable out on the roof just below my1bedroom window with a pad of paper and a pencil. The cold winter wind hit my bare chest and blew my short black hair around my face. This was one thing I could get used to; sitting outside in the dead of winter with no shirt on and not freezing to death.

I was quietly working on writing lyrics and sheet music for the latest of my many songs, a power love ballad to be played on the piano sometime in the future. There was no telling when I would be able to play it but I had an eternity of time now that I was technically dead. I hoped that by the time everything was worked out, I would have someone to sing it to.

As I was working on the third line in second verse of my song, searching my mind for references, when there was a soft knock on my bedroom door. I ignored it completely, hoping they, who ever it was, would go away. I liked the peace and quiet of being alone. The knock came again and I still ignored it.

"Ben?" I heard a young woman call my name from outside the bedroom door in the hallway; I was not in the mood for interruptions. "Ben, are you in here?"

"No," I replied unpleasantly, wanting so much to be left alone with my thoughts; technically, I was not in the bedroom.

"Don't you lie to me," she said, her voice was louder so I assumed she had come into the room. "I can hear you."

"I'm not in there because I'm out on the roof, stupid," I said, wondering how another vampire would not have enough common sense to figure it out herself

The girl climbed out on the roof and sat next to me; she was the one who had introduced herself a few months ago to me as Bella. She was wearing a long, green holiday dress and her brown hair was flowing over her shoulders in loose spirals. I did not look at her again as I continued working on sheet music for my song.

We both sat there for several minutes, neither of us saying anything. I was content as long as she did not beg me to go downstairs and join them. Christmas or not, I still refused to talk to them. However, I _was_ interested in who actually bit me. I knew it was not Bella; I could tell she was too sweet of a girl to do that.

"What are you working on?" she asked, leaning over my shoulder; I hid the paper, not wanting her or anyone to see it.

She sighed and pulled her knees to her chest, staring at the moon that was now high in the sky. Seeing the look on her face made me wish I had been a little nicer; I could tell she was trying hard to reach me in some way or another. I relaxed and decided to let her see my song. Bella looked at me for a second, hesitating, before taking the paper and looking over it.

I watched her eyes as she read over both the words and the notes. It was almost as if she could hear the notes in her head and was singing the song to herself. I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my chin on my arms, waiting nervously for her to finish. The song itself was not done but it was the farthest I had gotten with any of my songs.

"I like it – a lot," she said, handing the paper back to me with a smile on her face. "You should play it for us sometime – if you ever decide to come down."

"The truth is," I sighed, tucking the song in the back pocket of my jeans. "I've been thinking lately and I've been a little more than unfair to you guys. You saved me and let me live in your house and I've been nothing but a pain in the ass."

"It's okay," Bella replied with a comforting smile, putting her hand on mine. "I understand more than anyone right now what you're going through. So… are you ready to meet the rest of the… family?"

I nodded with a slight grin on my face, standing up and heading into my room to grab a shirt. Bella followed and waited while I dug through my drawers. Finally, I found a short sleeved, plain black, button down shirt and I threw it on, leaving it unbuttoned.

Bella smiled at my attempt to be neat and led the way downstairs. As the vast entryway came into view, I was in awe by what I was seeing. Never in my normal life had I ever seen a family go through so much trouble to put up such an elaborate scheme of decorations. Whoever had put this together apparently did it often.

"Look who's finally decided to grace us with his presence," a girl with short black hair walked over to me with a big smile on her face.

After she introduced herself as Alice, she walked me around the massive living room and introduced me to the others. Alice hesitated on introducing me to Jacob who was holding a little girl named Renesmee; after a quick scope through his mind, I found that he was a werewolf and had _imprinted_ on the little girl.

Renesmee interested me the most out of everyone. It was not how small and cute she was or was trying to be, it was the fact that she was interested in _me_. The little dark-haired girl held her arms out to be as if she wanted me to pick her up. I looked at Bella, knowing the child was hers, and waited to see what she said.

"Go ahead," Bella told me after getting the okay from Edward, her husband. "She just wants to show you something."

I did not know exactly what she meant, but I had a - I would not say a bad feeling but it was something that made me think twice before I picked her up. I sat on the couch and she crawled into my lap, persistent with whatever she wanted. She smiled up at me for a second before placing her hand on my cheek.

Everything that had happened since arriving at the Cullen house poured into my conscious in full color. All that this little girl had seen over the past few months was shown to me within a matter of a few seconds. I gasped involuntarily as she let me have my own thoughts back to myself. Renesmee bit her lip before sliding off my lap and into Jacob's arms.

The others smiled at me and went back to their work. The child was special, no doubt about that, but one thing was bothering me…. How could a vampire reproduce with a human? Yeah, I had heard the whole story starting with when Bella first moved to Forks through everyone's thoughts.

There was a sudden stabbing pain in my chest and my vision faded. I was pulled mentally into a different, unknown place. There were mountains covered with trees and a house in the center. Screams shattered what I thought to be a silent vision. A girl was lying in the middle of the wilderness, cold, alone, and dying.

Shattering glass brought me back to my own body. Alice stood in the center of the room with the broken remains of what was once a vase at her feet. The look in her eyes was distant and her mouth hung wide open in disbelief. It was then I realized I had seen bits and pieces of what she saw, which meant something was not right. She stood there for what seemed like forever until she ran out of the house.

Carlisle, Emmett, and Edward ran out after her in hopes of being some sort of help. I stood up to follow but was pushed back onto the couch by Jasper. He gave me a stern look before going back to what he was doing. I had to stay here while they went out to do whatever needed to be done. How unfair was that?


End file.
